56 



I.YCnDIX.Iv 



anterior part of the back and belly are free of scales, likewise the head and fins. 

 The lateral line is mediolateral. Pyloric appendages 2. Size 223 mm. 



D. 91-96. A. 7 1 76. P. (J7) 18 — 19 (20). 



Distribution. Spitzbergen, 5 — 75 fathoms; Kara Sea, 46 — 100 fathoms; Pors- 

 anger Fjord (East Finmark), 30 — 50 fathoms. 



Remarks on the Synonymy. 



In iSjs. Ross referred a fish taken by the Parry North Pole Expedition north of Spitzbergen at a depth of So 

 fathoms, to the Blennius polaris described by Sabine from arctic America, though Ross at the same time noted some 

 differences between them. From the description, it is quite clear that Ross' specimen was a species of the genus Lycodes. 



In 1S61, a Swedish Expedition to Spitzbergen obtained two small Lycodes, which Malmgren took — and probablj 

 rightly to be identical as species with Ross' specimen. But M. rejected the reference of this Lycodes to Sabine's Blennius 

 polaris, and after likewise rejecting the possibility of its identity with either of the L. perspicillum and L. nebulosus from 

 Greenland established by Krover, gave it the name /.. rossi, the diagnosis of which is based on a single 32 mm. long speci- 

 men (the second specimen seems to have been lost). 



The next reference to /.. rossi is by Collett in [8S0. After examining Malmgren's type-specimen Collett came 

 to the conclusion that L. rossi was really the same as /.. perspicillum Kr., and again that L. gracilis M. Sars, which was 

 only known from a young specimen from Christiania Fjord, was identical with L. rossi. Further, Collett explains: it is 

 probable that all these are only young stages either of L. reticularis alone, or also of a second nearly related species, perhaps 

 /.. lutkenii il. c. p. i< '. r , . 



In his great work on Scandinavian Fishes Prof. F. A. Smitt likewise expresses the opinion that L. rossi is the 

 young of /.. reticulatus Reinh., but with this he unites not only L. perspicillum Kr., but also /.. seminudus Reinh. and 

 L. lutkenii Coll. of the European-Greenland forms. 



In his monograph on L. gracilis (1899) Collett again takes up the question of the position of L. rossi. He de- 

 clares that in certain features /.. rossi differs from L. gracilis, but he is still inclined to consider them identical; on the other 

 hand, he now considers the transference of L. perspicillum to this species as problematical, and there is no further talk of 

 bringing L. gracilis-rossi under /,. reticulatus. 



In my preliminary report on the Lycodes of the Ingolf Expedition 1 was of the opinion that I had again found 

 /. rossi in two small specimens from the seas south of Jan Maven, and that these united L. rossi with /.. lutkenii Coll. In 

 this however. I made an error. Later, in the material of the Kolthoff Expedition, 1 have seen so many specimens identical 

 with the form from Jan Mayen, that with this increased knowledge, I must refer them to /.. seminudus (cf. this species). 

 And after I had the opportunity, through the favour of Prof. F. A. Smitt, of examining Malmgren's type-specimen of 

 L. rossi, I think it certain that this form is a very young stage of the species /.. celatus niihi. 



This specific name f had employed for three small Lycodes from the Kara Sea; they were considered by Hitken, 

 though with some doubt, as the young of L. reticulatus Reinh. I could not agree with this author on this point and formed 

 the species /.. celatus. To this I further referred two small Lycodes taken by Russian Expeditions in the Stor F'jord at Spitz- 

 bergen. Prof. X. Knipowitsch had identified these specimens as Liitken's L. reticulatus jun.? and with right, as I could 

 judge from a direct comparison which Prof. K. kindly enabled me to make; through some differences in the most important 

 proportions however, I felt obliged to distinguish it as a distinct variety: spitsbergensis. 



But, as said, after I had seen the type-specimen of L. rossi Malmgr. . I came to the conclusion that my L. celatus 

 mns! be somewhat larger specimens of the same species. 



Later, I got to know L. rossi closer through a whole series of specimens, old and young, which Dr. Jo nan Hjort 

 had taken in 1.901 in the Ise Fjord at Spitzbergen. And for use in this treatise, Prof. R. Collett has lent me a series of spe- 

 cimens, which kindness I appreciate the more as Prof. Collett had intended to work them out. With the help of this 

 excellent material, I discovered that the largest of the specimens, which Liitken in his report on the fishes of the Kara 

 Sea had referred to /.. lutkenii Coll., belonged to L. rossi'). Lastly, I became convinced that two Lycodes must also be 

 referred to L. rossi. which were taken at Spitzbergen (Ise Fjord and W. from Cape Mitra) by the Kolthoff Expedition of 

 1900 and ascribed to /.. reticulatus by Prof. Smitt (1. a). 



1 >e scri p tiou. 

 Altogether 1 have had 19 specimens for investigation; they are enumerated below with the 

 most important proportions: 



The remaining 1271 specimens, on the other hand, form a new species belonging to the scaleless Lycodes. which 

 1 have named Lycodes agnoslus (cf. p. 79 So). 



